Walmart to start selling iPads at midnight tonight

But supplies are limited so you better start lining up soon

It seems like Walmart has gotten the jump on Apple.

The new iPad, no doubt one of the most anticipated new pieces of technology to come along in a while, is set to hit stores tomorrow. Before that, though, Walmart will be selling a limited number of the device at midnight tonight, a full eight hours before the Apple Store will open, according to published reports.

A Walmart spokeperson told CNET that the availability of the iPad will vary by store. The 16 GB iPad will be selling for $499, and the last generation of the iPad 2 will be going for $399. 

The device will also be sold by Target and Best Buy, but Walmart is the only one selling them before 8 am tomorrow, though not all stores will be open. Those stores that are not normally open 24 hours will start selling the device at regular business hours. 

The new iPad was announced by Apple last week and since then has sold out  its pre-order stock. Even before that, though, the device was highly awaited by consumers, nearly half of whom said they would only buy a tablet from Apple. 

The original iPad sold 300,000 units its first day, 450,000 in its first five days and a half million by the eleventh day. It took less than a month to sell one million. 15 million iPads were sold before the iPad 2 was released and the iPad 2 took only took only 28 days to sell one million units. 

The new iPad is projected to sell 65 million units this year also. To put that in perspective, the iPad 2 was released two years ago and has sold 55 million units in that span.

With it's revolutionary 2048 by 1536 pixel resolution, the new iPad is sure to become the hot device of 2012. But if you want to be the first to get yours hands on it, you better start lining up soon.

Walmart did not return our request for comment.

(Image source: blog.laptopmag.com)